Seven meters! Mihambo jumps in the last trial to gold - Olympic Wissemp

For Malaika Mihambo it is an Olympic victory with asterisks. "Definitely! That was my toughest competition and the most important seven meters I've ever jumped," said the 27-year-old from the LV Kurpfalz after the Olympic Wissemp Crime on Tuesday in Tokyo. "It was probably not to be exceeded."

Only with her seven-meter sentence in the last trial, the pot favorite had taken the leadership, but still had to wait the jumps of Brittney Reese (USA / Silver) and ESE Brume (Nigeria / Bronze), which were only three centimeters long ago . "It's the position that I watch the least because you can not do anything," Mihambo said. "I just got my eyes because I could not watch how it started. That was a worse moment." That is why it had been "one of the most exciting finals ever".

Interplay of feelings

For the German World and European Champion it had started at 6.83 meters well and continued well at 6.95 meters. The fact that she was nearly 13 centimeters from the optimal jump point in this phrase was additionally courage. At the third attempt (6.78) she hit the beam worse and the jumps four and five were invalid. "I felt an inner faith that was unbroken. I was calm and relaxed," Mihambo described her feeling of emotion before the decisive flight to the gold.

The interplay of the feelings in the Tokyo Final was a reflection of their whole pre-Olympic season, in which their winning width of 7.30 meters from the World Cup Triumph in 2019 in Doha had become a not even achievable size. In vain she had searched for the perfect timing between start and tear on the way to the medal fight for months to overcome the seven-meter barrier. At the beginning of July, you only succeeded in Stockholm once at 7.02 meters.

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The ease of jumping was the two-time "athlete of the year" in the pandemic break and the shortening of the start-up. To protect her charged back she had reduced from 20 to 16 steps. The return to the long run was approached close to Olympia to the shake. "The jumping is heavily liked to me," she was unnatural.

So until June, they would have plagued self-doubt, after which it was slowly in "my startup come in and have found" old self-confidence "," said Mihambo. "I found out that I do not have to prove something that I have nothing to lose." You took the burden to win gold in Tokyo.

"I'm grateful that I'm the best version of my own here"

The fact that she has done it in the end was an indescribable feeling because the way was "so hard and rocky" and she had learned a lot. "I am grateful that I'm the best version of my own here," said Mihambo. "It's a modest feeling that I enjoy very much and value."

Now that she has won from the national title to the first Olympic victory 21 years after Heike Drechsler and as fourth Germans at all, everything you can win, you want to prioritize your performance limit. "For me it is interesting to find out how far I can jump," said Mihambo. "You have to beat 7.30 meters, but I know that I can do it."

Maybe with the help of Carl Lewis in the US. The project to train with one of the largest of athletics, she has not given up. "I'll tackle the plan because it can help me human - but after the holiday," said Malaika Mihambo.

The German medal winners of Tokyo